Severe heatwave in Rajasthan dents tourism industry, smaller hotels hit harder

JAIPUR: Severe heatwave in Rajasthan has significantly impacted the hospitality and tourism industry with occupancies and room rates crashing to worst levels witnessed in years. In fact, the blow has been severe for smaller hotels as their bigger counterparts have reduced rates to 75-80% to fill their large inventory of rooms.
In previous years, despite high temperatures, Rajasthan remained a preferred destination for corporate meetings, incentive travel, and family visits.The off-season summer months usually offered attractive deals, drawing visitors who could benefit from lower rates. This year, however, the scenario is starkly different.
“The heatwave along with the media reports of casualties have led to widespread cancellations and rescheduling of trips,” said Ranvijay Singh, joint secretary of Hotels and Restaurants Association of Rajasthan (HRAR).
He said both occupancies and rates plummeted in May and the current month does not look brighter. Industry estimates that occupancies in the properties of leading chains nosedived to 20-25%, which was about 50% last year during this time.
“Corporate travel and meetings, which typically take advantage of off-season discounts, have seen significant rescheduling. Businesses are hesitant to send their employees to Rajasthan right now, even for important meetings. School student groups too are not travelling,” added Singh.
Visits from friends and family, often planned during summer vacations, have also dwindled. Families are choosing to postpone their trips, fearing the extreme temperatures.
The economic impact is palpable with many hotels choosing to send their staff on long leaves. “Hotels, resorts and restaurants are all experiencing financial distress. The industry is adopting various measures to reduce operational costs,” said Singh.
In fact, some smaller hotels did not see a single booking on some days, said the industry. This is also due to the bigger hotel chain hotels slashing their room rates by 75-80%, which is almost the same rates that smaller ones used to charge.
“Whatever footfall the industry is getting is going to the star hotels leaving the budget and smaller hotels in doldrums,” said Singh.
As Rajasthan navigates through this challenging period, all eyes are on the monsoon. Typically, when the hills receive rainfall, tourists tend to avoid them and come to Rajasthan. “We expect the tourist inflow to start again from mid-July as people skip hills for plains,” he added.